Conspiracy Theory
by calliope-love
Summary: I have this hunch that Liam knows far more about Break's plans than we are aware, and has all along...


The coat was a signal. It meant, "come and see me". Break had to have known it when he woke on the theater floor with the garment draped over him, but Liam made a point of shoving it at him again once he was conscious, just to make sure.

Break understood, of course. Liam didn't have to wait for him long.

The younger man was pacing up a storm when Break emerged from his wardrobe, far more calmly than usual. He looked _exhausted_. Liam cringed, feeling guilty. He should have been long asleep, but they needed to check in with one another, and Break knew it just as well as he did; it seemed he'd returned home just long enough to change his clothing before sneaking out.

He hadn't brought the coat back with him. It wouldn't do for it to reappear in Liam's possession so soon when Barma had seen Break leave with it.

"Should you be traveling by cabinet already?" Liam asked by way of greeting.

"I couldn't be seen coming here and you know it," Break said. He was too tired to sound as angry as he was, or wanted to be, but he did manage a nasty sneer. "You shouldn't have jumped between us. Does he suspect you?"

"I jumped between you because I panicked when I realized he knew and no, he doesn't suspect me."

"You're _sure?"_

"He asked me outright and I said no and he believed me."

"When?"

"Right after you blacked out."

"Ah." Break took a deep breath, one hand rubbing the side of his head; he had an _incredible_ headache. "You looked as shocked as the rest of them felt. Gilbert told me. I almost wish I could have seen you in action."

"That part wasn't fake," Liam grumbled. "That was real. I was _terrified._ All I could think was that if Barma chose to rat you out you were going to be executed."

Break snorted. "You weren't the only one thinking that. It's a good thing your master so enjoys his blackmail."

"He wanted _me_ to know," Liam said quietly.

"Pardon?"

"Xerxes, I had no reason to be at that theater with you. I'm not his personal servant. He wanted me to be there because he wanted to be sure I found out." Without realizing it, Liam resumed his pacing. "He's always known we're friends. I think he might be trying to take me away from you."

"Do you feel safe staying in his household still?" Break asked immediately. "With a suspicious master who knows more than we like and beats you? You can stay in your room at Pandora until I — "

"Master Rufus doesn't _beat_ me."

"He didn't seem overly sorry he'd hit you." Break was glaring at the bandage around Liam's head.

"He isn't the sort to be kind in public. He tended to the wound himself later on."

They fell silent. Liam paced a few minutes more, and then collapsed into the armchair he kept by the fireplace. The adrenaline he'd been riding on since the moment he'd seen the duke and Xerxes Break facing one another in the auditorium aisles was finally beginning to ebb, and he was shaking.

Break noticed, because Break noticed everything about him. "Are you alright?"

"I was _terrified_," Liam repeated. "You were unconscious in my arms and the seal was _right there_ and my own master was going to take you from me and have you killed. I was _convinced."_

"I never should have let you find out," Break muttered, almost helplessly. "I never should have got you so wrapped up in what I'm doing. I've been putting you in danger for ten blasted years."

"Come off it, Xerxes. We've been over this. It's not your fault I figured it out. _Figured,_ not found."

"If I hadn't —"

"Blame the Will of the Abyss," Liam snapped with an impatient wave of his hand. "She's the one who dumped you out of an _abyssal gate_ right in front of someone who would wind up working for Pandora."

A cynical chuckle. "You always were far too clever."

"I have to be, to work for Barma. He can scarcely stand anyone who isn't." He let his eyes fall shut for a moment before turning them on Break again. "What about you? Are you alright?"

"Nothing a proper night's sleep won't fix."

"What's next, then?"

Break thought a bit, turning their conversation over in his mind, his eye loosing its focus as he stared into the fire. At length, he said, "We should avoid one another for a while, at least a few days. Look preoccupied, look upset. I won't have you giving Barma any reason to think you're up to something on my behalf."

"Of course not. My coat?"

"I'll return it in a few days. In public, where all the important people can see. I'll be hesitant and unsure."

"I'll be flustered and uncomfortable, concerned in spite of myself and trying not to give in to it. When should I 'forgive' you?"

"How long did it take when you were sixteen?"

"About a month, I think. Month and a half."

"We should probably be awkward for at least that long, then." Break moved toward the wardrobe, wanting nothing more than to be home and in his bed. "You're sure you feel safe here? You could come back to Rainsworth. You know Lady Cheryl adores you, and Ahoge-Head wouldn't fight her."

Liam smiled wanly. "Just like the old days, except that I grew up. That'd be nice. But I have things I have to do as well, you know that."

"I know." He opened the wardrobe doors. "You're always welcome, all the same."

"Xerxes. Are you sure you're alright? This has to be harder on you than it is on me. Everyone already believes I didn't know, but you, you can't really hide from this."

Break hesitated. "It would have been nice if he'd attacked me in private instead of outing me to all and sundry, though I suppose that isn't his style. But I'm…a bit relieved, really, knowing this card of his is out on the table now. I've been waiting for him to come after me for years." He laughed, a little. "I remember that stupid ancestor of his who was trying to catch me. Your master and I were close in age, in my time. I never met him, but he must have heard about me from Arthur Barma back then. He probably had a good idea who I was as soon as he heard about my existence."

"I don't think he'll bring you up to Pandora," Liam said. His eyes closed again in something like relief; good gracious, but he was bone tired, and his wound was aching, too. "If he really did wait that long he must expect to be able to use you somehow."

"Mm. And it seems I have the brat's support, not that that's worth much."

"It might be."

"I doubt it."

The conversation drifted off again. After a few moments, another thought occurred to him, and Liam said, "Xerxes. I hope you don't think I'm helping you because I feel obligated. That's not it." There was no response, and he opened his eyes to find that Break was gone. The wardrobe was closed, and there was nothing to indicate that the other man had ever been there at all.

Irritated and amused and affectionate all at the same time, Liam shook his head and heaved himself from his chair to his bed. Someone was going to have to get a lecture on coming and going like a normal person when they were done being awkward.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Why has Liam been a very important friend of Break's for _ten_ years when they've known each other for fifteen? Why do we never see any resolution between them after Barma's little revelation at the theater? How could Liam have grown up to be the Pandora worker he is and still not have suspected anything about Break's sudden appearance in front of the Rainsworth gate? And how is it that removing Liam from the equation suddenly ruins all of Break's plans? He must be far more involved than we thought if that's the case. Furthermore in the past he's lied outright to Oz _and_ other Pandora members, snuck around on Sharon, kept Break's blindness a secret, and gone behind Break's back to volunteer to attend the party.

Bottom line - as **their_kingdom** notes, this entire manga is about illusions and deceptions, and I think Liam is one of the most deceptive of all. After all, he's been working for Barma since he was young. I'm not saying any of what I've written in this fic is true, it's all speculation on my part; but it's a hunch I just can't shake, and here in the aftermath of Chapter 53, the more I think about it the more I believe that the extent of Liam's part in all this has yet to be revealed. He has to be up to something bigger than what we've seen.

Do you like my crafty!Liam? If so, you ought to go have a look at **tsutsuji**'s evil!Liam. He's fun, too.


End file.
